Photo from E^gypt E^xploration Fund 

 JARS I^II.I.ED WITH MUMMIJ^IED BIRDS IN POSITION IN THE) IBIS Ce:me:Te:rY 



in the style and design of the outside in- 

 terlaced mummy wrappings, and they 

 are often made to represent the exact 

 form of human mummies, even to the 

 shape of the feet. These grave cover- 

 ings are more carefully tailored and as 

 handsomely and elaborately designed as 

 the shrouds of Egyptian princesses. 

 Very few, indeed, of the royal family 

 ever possessed burial garments equal to 

 some of them, the cloth being of finest 

 texture and so perfectly manufactured 

 that even its color is in some cases com- 

 pletely preserved (see page 1046). 



These mummy wrappings have re- 

 ceived the most elaborate and loving 

 decorations — rosettes and figures of 

 ibises, and royal crowns and other beau- 

 tiful designs surprisingly artistic in their 

 color scheme, being worked upon these 

 ''shrouds" by fingers expert in the finest 

 needlework. The intricate interlacing 

 of the black and white bands in geo- 

 metrical designs recalls Plutarch's de- 

 scription, "The ibis was thought to bear 

 some relation to the moon, from its 



feathers being so mixed and blended to- 

 gether, the black with the white, as to 

 form a representation of the moon's gib- 

 bosity" (see page 1049). 



GU11.DS 01^ pRiKSTivY undi;rtaki:rs 



These garments are so handsome and 

 of such perfection of execution that the 

 tapestries now sold in Egypt to adorn 

 the walls of modern American homes 

 cannot even compare with them. Only 

 a guild of undertakers or tailors long 

 trained to do this work could ever have 

 succeeded in procuring such exquisite 

 results. They could only have been made 

 by a priestly or subpriestly guild, the 

 members of which had after long ex- 

 perience acquired this perfection in their 

 art. We see here that the undertakers 

 connected with the bird-cult of Egypt 

 had as careful training and were consid- 

 ered as important a part of the priest- 

 hood helpers as those who had oversight 

 of the royal funerals. 



This discovery opens up a new chap- 

 ter in the history of bird worship in 



1043 



